I specifically tried not to work for the three weeks I was traveling for my honeymoon. But of course being a bike blogger has poisoned my brain, and I couldn’t help noting city-making lessons for Seattle. So here’s a brief rundown of where I went and what I saw.

First step in our trip was to pack up our Gilman Bags by (SBB advertiser) Swift Industries and load them onto our Brompton folding bikes we bought from (SBB advertiser) G&O Family Cyclery. These proved to be dependable and versatile multimodal travel machines.

Bringing the bikes through Seatac Airport was a breeze. We checked the saddles in our bags and carried the bikes through security (they fit though the scanners if the saddles are removed). Iceland Air checked them at the gate like a stroller, saving them the tumbling trip through the guts of the baggage system and, importantly, saving us the need to buy and lug along big bike cases. However, the Iceland (Keflavík), Amsterdam and Paris (Orly) airports were less friendly to the bikes than Seatac (we escaped with only one mangled fender, so it could have been worse). We’ll probably explore a box solution of some kind next time.

Kelli and I first flew to Iceland, which is a tremendously beautiful place. Reykjavik is a very cool city, and we had a great time soaking in the Blue Lagoon and hiking through the lava flats. A summer bike tour there seems like an amazing adventure. Added that to the to-do list. (more…)